Fannie Farmer Biography

Fannie Farmer was an American authority in the art of cooking and the
author of six books about food preparation. She was a determined woman who
overcame her physical limitations to achieve success in her field.

Early life

Fannie Merritt Farmer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 23,
1857. She was the eldest of four daughters of J. Franklin Farmer, a
master printer, and Mary Watson Merritt Farmer. The Farmers moved to
Medford, Massachusetts, when Fannie was a child. Though they were not
wealthy, the Farmers strongly believed that their daughter should
receive a solid education. Fannie's parents had hopes of sending
her to college, but after high school graduation she suffered a stroke
that left her paralyzed. Her doctor discouraged all thoughts of further
schooling. Fannie was unable to get out of bed for months and remained
an invalid for years. She did, however, learn to use her legs again. She
was eventually able to walk, but always retained a limp.

Education and career

While at home, Farmer helped around the house but she was not able to
help her family financially until she was in her mid-twenties. By that
time she was well enough to take a job with the Shaw family. It was here
that she showed a strong interest in cooking. By the time Fannie had
reached thirty-one years of age, her physical condition had markedly
improved. Her parents and the Shaw family advised her to seek schooling
that would develop and refine her knowledge and abilities in cooking.

Farmer then enrolled in the Boston Cooking School, where her performance
was outstanding. Because of the excellence of her work, upon graduation
in 1889 she was invited to serve as assistant director of the school
under Carrie M. Dearborn. Farmer began to understand the association
between eating and good health. Her inquiring mind led her into further
studies, including a summer course at the Harvard Medical School.

After Dearborn's death in 1891, Farmer was appointed director of
the school. While there she published her impressive, highly significant
Boston Cooking School Cookbook (1896), of which twenty-one editions were
printed before her death. It has remained a standard work. She served as
director of the school for eleven years. After her resignation in 1902,
she established her own school and named it Miss Farmer's School
of Cookery. It was decidedly creative and inventive, emphasizing the
practice of cooking instead of theory. Its program was designed to
educate housewives rather than to prepare teachers. The school also
developed cooking equipment for the sick and the physically disabled.
Farmer became a highly respected authority in her field, and she was
invited to deliver lectures to nurses, women's clubs, and even
the Harvard Medical School.

One of Farmer's major contributions was teaching cooks to
carefully follow recipes. She pioneered the use of standard level
measurement in cooking. Farmer, her school, and her cookbooks were
extremely popular. She received favorable newspaper

Fannie Farmer.
Reproduced by permission of the

Corbis Corporation

.

coverage in many American cities, and her influence was widespread. The
well-attended weekly lectures at the school were tributes to the value
of the work she and her assistants were doing. She also wrote a popular
cooking column, which ran for nearly ten years in the
Woman's Home Companion,
a national magazine.

Farmer was a woman of unusual motivation, intelligence, and courage.
Though she suffered another paralytic stroke later in her life, she
continued lecturing. In fact, ten days before her death in 1915, she
delivered a lecture from a wheelchair. Fannie Farmer died on January 15,
1915.

For More Information

Hopkinson, Deborah.
Fannie in the Kitchen.
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001.

Smallzried, Kathleen Ann.
The Everlasting Pleasure: Influences on America's Kitchens,
Cooks, and Cookery from 1565 to the Year 2000.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1956.

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